Jeff Sessions

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III grew up in Hybart, AL (two hours north of Mobile) Small town with 10 houses, K-12 rode bus for white kids only. School was segregated. Father ran country store & Sessions helped out and played football (small but tenacious linebacker). 1981 Reagan appointed him US Attorney in Mobile, prosecuted three black civil rights workers for voter fraud, zero convictions. 1986 Reagan tapped him for federal district court judge. "During confirmation a Justice Department lawyer alleged that Sessions had called the NAACP "Communist-inspired" and "un-American." One witness said Sessions once referred to a white civil rights lawyer as a "disgrace to his race." And a black prosecutor who worked closely with him testified that Sessions had called him "boy." Sessions denied all of this at the hearing." He was voted down. His defining issue today is immigration today. He opposes a legal path to citizenship, backs Trump's plan for a wall and supports limiting legal immigration to protect American jobs. (NPR)

voted to expand the health coverage of fetuses at the expense of their mother's coverage. (MotherJones)

Sessions is co-sponsoring the euphemistically named bill, S.1598 - First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which will roll back LGBT rights in housing, employment, health care, and protections against violence and opposed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. (Forbes)

A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled against the Trump administration's policy of withholding law enforcement grants from so-called sanctuary cities, because it refuses full cooperation with federal authorities on immigration.thehill.com(See also Immigration, Department of Justice)

2017.11.19

An FBI report on the rise of black “extremists” is stirring fears of a return to practices used during the civil rights movement, when the bureau spied on activist groups without evidence they had broken any laws.apnews.com(See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Racism)

2017.11.19

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating whether Donald Trump sought to obstruct a federal inquiry into connections between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives has now directed the Justice Department to turn over a broad array of documents, suggesting that the Special Counsel is still actively digging into, among other matters, whether Trump or any other administration official improperly tried to influence an ongoing investigation.abcnews.go.com(See also Russian Meddling in Election, Corruption, Department of Justice, Legal Activity)

The Department of Justice acknowledged in a statement that copies of private text messages exchanged between two former special-counsel investigators were disclosed to certain members of the media before they were given to Congress, even though those disclosures "were not authorized."businessinsider.com(See also Legal Issues, Reversals, Department of Justice)

2017.12.21

On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton.nbcnews.com(See also Fascism, Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Department of Justice)

2017.12.21

The Justice Department wiped a wide swath of "guidance documents" off the books on Thursday, withdrawing 25 documents — including one addressing integration of people with disabilities in state and local government programs and another on standards for assessing citizenship status discrimination.buzzfeed.com(See also People with Disabilities, Department of Justice, Immigrants)

2018.01.02

Donald Trump's pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) called for a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, saying politicians who help run them should be charged with crimes.thehill.com(See also Fascism, Immigration, Department of Justice)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has consistently urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to make a “fresh start” by cleaning house and firing his core team, including Andrew McCabe - the man who the White House just picked to lead the FBI when Donald Trump fired James Comey, causing Wray to threaten his resignation.splinternews.com(See also Corruption, Legal Issues, Department of Justice)

2018.01.23

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours as part of the special counsel investigation, and the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, was interviewed by the office last year, marking the first time that investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, are known to have questioned a member of President Trump’s cabinet.nytimes.com(See also Department of Justice, Trump Relationship with Russia, Legal Issues)

2018.01.29

Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from Donald Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, adding to what has already been a chaotic upheaval at the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump, who has responded to an investigation into his campaign with broadside attacks against both the bureau and the Justice Department.nytimes.com(See also Unprecedented Actions, Unpresidential Behavior, Corruption, Department of Justice)

More than 13 months into the Trump administration, the Justice Department is now officially without its Senate-confirmed No. 3 in charge revealing that there are very few people serving in “permanent” roles in the Justice Department.buzzfeed.com(See also Department of Justice, Assaults on Government)

The Justice Department is suing California over immigration laws that oppose Mr. Trump’s agenda, saying state laws make it impossible for federal immigration officials to deport criminals born outside of the United States.nytimes.com(See also Immigration, Department of Justice, Legal Activity)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI deputy director Andrew Mc­Cabe, a little more than 24 hours before McCabe was set to retire — a move that McCabe alleged was an attempt to slander him and undermine the ongoing special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign.washingtonpost.com(See also 2016 Campaign, Department of Justice, Conflicts of Interest)

The Trump administration freed federal prosecutors on Thursday to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, rescinding an Obama-era policy that had discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that have legalized sales of the drug.nytimes.com(See also Reversals, Department of Justice)

Assessments

Eliana Johnson — The National Review

Sessions, 67, is a low-profile guy. Though he is not well known nationally, he has for years now been the instrumental force in quashing repeated attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He has a gentle, almost grandfatherly quality, but he doesn’t shy away from combat. He derided the 2007 bill as “no illegal alien left behind”; in a single press conference, he blasted it as a “colossal error,” an “absolute scandal,” and a “fiscal disaster.” He declared: “Good fences make good neighbors.”